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The Fundraiser
The Fundraiser is the seventh episode of the third season of the Adult Swim original series The Boondocks. It aired on June 13, 2010. Plot During the annual World's Ultimate Chocolates school fundraiser, Riley initially rebuffs the idea of working for a measly cheap trinket. But when he sees Robert simply hand over money to Jazmine DuBois during her chocolate sale, he realizes there is money to be made in selling chocolate. Riley quickly organizes a fundraiser with Jazmine and another high-earning classmate as the main sponsors, with Cindy McPhearson for extra muscle, but the money is not going to any charitable causes, rather Riley intends to keep the funds raised for personal gain. At Riley's insistence, Huey agrees to not reveal anything that might result from his idea, but still gives Riley a bullet-proof vest. After convincing the first few kids to abandon the school's fundraising campaign for World's Ultimate Chocolates (and then the school itself), Riley begins soliciting chocolate to the neighborhood and thusly sets out to control all school fundraising in Woodcrest. The profits are so great that eventually they move their headquarters to a special suite in a hotel, called the Scarface suite. Jazmine's doubts on them pocketing the funds are quickly dismissed with Riley promising that there will be plenty left for "the animals", and any similar questions from their guardians are dismissed just as quickly with expensive gifts. Inevitably, the success of their chocolate sales soon sparks a turf war between the World's Ultimate Chocolates and Riley's ficticious "Young Reezy's Fund Raising". After many confrontations with WUC's muscle, and even one of the boys getting dipped in chocolate and delivered to them by UPS as a warning, Jazmine and many Woodcrest students back out with only Riley and Cindy left. With Ed Wuncler III as their bodyguard, Riley and Cindy return to their Scarface suite with the decision to close their fundraiser. When they arrive, the owner of Worlds Ultimate Chocolates is there with his goons. He tells Riley that he will have to work for him for a ten percent cut, saying "You either get down, or you lay down. So whats it gonna be, sunshine?" Riley, despite his initial plan to give up the fundraiser, decides to go out in style and gives an extensive speech, involving the use of "Fuck" many times, and racial slurrs for English people, such as "fairy". The big boss gets furious with Riley and then tells his goons to "teach this cheeky bastard a lesson". As the goons hold up their guns at Riley, a group of Italian mobsters break into the hotel room. The head mobster is insulted by the big boss, so he shoots the big boss of WUC in the head. The mobsters say that the only way to make money nowadays is with chocolate. Everyone "agrees" to "allow" the mobsters take over. Then the FBI and the Police break in, leading into a bloody shootout. Ed takes a bullet to his W-Chain and is knocked out, while Riley and Cindy flee the scene in terror. Back at his house, Riley demands what is left of the money from Jazmine, and it turns out she gave all of it to PETA. In anger, Riley accuses Huey of purposely hiding that information from him, all without realizing that Huey's vest had actually taken a bullet. Later, back to his old life of doing chores, Riley wonders if he would ever do it all again. Then someone with a handful of notes asks if he is still selling candy to raise funds. Riley smiles, hinting that he would. Notes * This is the fourth time Riley has taken narrating duties in the series. * Ed Wuncler III was shot once again, but this time, his W-Chain protected him, although the impact of the bullet against the chain against his chest had knocked him out. * If Huey had never predicted Riley's fate and given him a bullet-proof vest, Riley would have been killed as it was shown that he was shot in the chest region of the vest. * This is Cindy McPhearson's fourth and final appearance on The Boondocks. Cultural references * The opening music is a slowed Scarface ''theme song. * The music for the montage after Riley confronts the principal is similar to Debbie Harry's "Rush Rush" from ''Scarface. * Cindy references rapper Beanie Siegel from the film State Property when she says - "Either Get Down Or Lay Down" * The opening to the episode is similar to the opening of the cult film'' A Clockwork Orange. * The premise of the episode is similar to that of ''Scarface. * The speech that Granddad gives Riley about allowance is a reference to the speech that Julius from the sitcom Everybody Hates Chris gives Chris when he asks for an allowance, for example when he says "I allow you to live in this house!" * The student being dunked and frozen in chocolate is a reference to the scene in ''The Empire Strikes Back'' in which Han Solo is frozen in carbonite. * The Scene in which Cindy and her friends bully a girl for selling on her territory is taken from a skit, "Can It Be All So Simple" remix on Raekwon's Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... album. * When Riley tells the business owner off, he says "My President is Black and my Lambo is Blue," which are lines from the Young Jeezy song "My President". * After Riley describes how enthusiastically everyone is selling his candy, his statement "It was beautiful." is probably a reference to the 2001 film Blow. * There is a Goodfellas ''reference when Riley confronts Jazmine about the money, similar to when Henry's wife got rid of the coke and Henry confronted her on it. ** There is also a ''Goodfellas ''reference when Riley is driving to close his fundraiser, and he looks up to see a helicopter following him. ** Another ''Goodfellas ''reference is at the episodes end. Riley starts as a normal "loser" kid, and after everything ends up the same way. Just like Henry Hill started out an average nobody, tried to run away from it, but still ended up in the "schnook" life. * The scene where Granddad's new car blows up is similar to a scene from ''The Godfather in which Michael Corleone's wife, Apollonia, is killed after igniting a car bomb. * The scene where the chocolate factory owner sits and introduces himself to Riley is a reference to Harry Lonsdale's monologue in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. In the same scene, when Riley is being seen and his thoughts are being heard, the end of ''Snatch'''' with Turkish sitting in front of Doug 'The Head' Denovitz is referenced. * The name of the chocolate factory owner is "Alestor Rigby". This may be a reference the British song "Eleanor Rigby" by The Beatles. * Additionally as Riley responds to the chocolate factory owner, he says "Fuck Guy Ritchie." Guy Ritchie being the director of the previously referenced movies Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' and Snatch. He also directed the Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey, Jr. * Additional British references include the chocolate factory owner mentioning "(he) gets angry when Liverpool beats Arsenal." The reference is to the two English football clubs in the Premier League. The allusion to him being an Arsenal supporter is supported by his Cockney accent - an accent stereotypically associated with working-class London, Arsenal's home city. * Harry Potter is mentioned. * The scene where the PETA worker pulls out the check for the fundraising money that Jazmine sent to the organization was in reference to the golden tickets in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. * The same scene could allude to Mr. Deeds, when the president of the United Negro College Fund is shocked when he opens a 40 billion dollar check. * The scene in which Riley describes how the kids sell the chocolate is a references to rapper Freeway's song "What We Do" in which Jay-Z raps "Rain...sleet, hail...snow man" and refers to selling drugs in any circumstances. * The shootout scene is a reference to a similar shootout which also saves the protagonists in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. * The ending scene where Riley narrates would he do it again is in reference to the film Paid in Full. * When Riley says that Cindy has "less compassion than the average girl", it may have been a reference to when 50 Cent said that President Bush has "less compassion than the average human." * The scene where Riley and his crew are walking down the sidewalk slowly while wearing sunglasses is a reference to the opening sequence of the Tarantino heist film Reservoir Dogs. * The shoot-out is also very similar to the one in ''True Romance'', a film written (but not directed by) Quentin Tarantino. *Though it may not be a purposeful reference the storyline has a lot of similarities to a story from the 1980's syndicated comic strip Bloom County Bloom County Presents - Night of the Mary Kay Commandoes by Bill Breathed, Page 54-68 . Local boy inventor Oliver invents a miracle hair growth tonic made from cat sweat. This sweat is extracted forcibly from the comic's mangy, disgusting cat and part time presidential candidate Bill. Oliver and his friend Milo get kids to sell the tonic "lemonade stand" style in the front yard until it's discovered that the tonic has a side effect: it causes people to make hairball hacking noises like Bill the Cat does. This gets the tonic outlawed. Right after Milo starts destroying the remianing supply Opus (a talking penguin) accidentally sells a bottle to a desperate bald man for $2500. Oliver, Opus and Milo go into the tonic smuggling business. Oliver buys his father off with a Ferrari Testarossa. The business gets out of hand, causing local crime to skyrocket as bald men start robbing banks to buy more tonic and gangs compete over distribution turf. Oliver's father's Ferarri is blown up by The Crips. In the end the government legalizes the hair tonic, which proves to be defective in the long term, eventually causing total baldness. Opus, naive and feeling sorry for torturing Bill to make the tonic, "invests" the $52 million dollars Oliver and Milo made with PETA Continuity * The desire to use Riley's money to buy a car that turns into a boat was previously expressed by Granddad when he was in Riley's dream in "Ballin'". * Phil, the character accompanying Jazmine in this episode, was the same character that was kidnapped and interrogated by Ed Wuncler III in the episode of "Shinin'". * Thugnificent is working as a delivery man which is a continuity of the episode "Bitches to Rags". He also uses his UPS delivery van in attempt to crash Dorthy's car in "Fried Chicken Flu". Thugnificent continues to work as a delivery man in "Mr. Medicinal" Critical reception Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club graded the episode an A-, calling it an "excellent installment" that found the right balance in gangsta references and pure humor. Category:Episodes Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes with Riley Freeman Category:Episodes with Cindy McPhearson Category:Episodes with Jazmine DuBois Category:Episodes with Ed Wuncler III Category:Episodes with Huey Freeman Category:Episodes with Robert Freeman Category:Episodes with Tom DuBois Category:Episodes with Thugnificent